Rochester Police officer reflects on recent development in child porn case: 'It's a good day for law enforcement'

Wednesday

Jul 4, 2012 at 3:15 AMJul 4, 2012 at 11:27 AM

By Samantha Allen sallen@fosters.com

ROCHESTER — The Rochester Police Department's public information officer reflected on the recent development in a local child pornography case and Tuesday reviewed the initial arrest dating back to earlier last year.

Capt. Paul Toussaint said Rochester resident David Barker, 39, of 36 Farmington Road, Apartment #2C4, who pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography in U.S. District Court this week.

Barker was arrested on Feb. 2, 2011 at approximately 11:30 a.m. in a Northgate Apartments building where police executed a search warrant of his home and discovered graphic images depicting sexual assault on young children.

Toussaint said his department is always pleased to hear cases turn to convictions of the guilty.

"Anytime we get a particular person who preys on children off the streets, it's a good day for law enforcement," Toussaint said.

Reviewing the original arrest report, Toussaint confirmed the initial findings included several computers, DVDs and CDs containing several thousand images depicting the sexual assault of young children.

Foster's reported in February 2011, the images included children ranging from infancy to their teen years in explicit sexual acts as well as a pair of soiled child-sized underpants and other children's clothing. Barker reportedly lived alone at that time.

A prosecutor for Strafford County in a court hearing later that month requested Barker's bail be set at $50,000 cash, stating he was a threat to his community and particularly the apartment building where other children lived.

But Toussaint said at that time, the discovery of the clothing never amounted to any further charges.

Regarding another recent local child pornography case, where a man, who remains unidentified at this time, had items seized at his Goldrush Lane home in June believed to be related to possession of illegal pornographic materials, Toussaint said he could not say if these crimes were more prevalent in the Rochester area.

"I don't know that it's anymore prevalent in Rochester than it is all over," he said. "With the Internet, the world is shrunk down to a much smaller size. People are sharing files all over the world now."

The state Department of Justice, whose spokesman could not be reached for comment on Tuesday, reports its investigation into Barker's activities began in 2010, when a lead was sent to the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC) from the Canadian Internet Child Exploitation Unit in Saskatchewan.

The department reported an undercover officer had seen images of child pornography being shared by a user in the Rochester area. Shortly after, the ICAC received a similar lead from a detective in Hinesville, Ga. From there, the Rochester Police Department conducted an investigation and secured a search warrant for Barker's residence.

The state DOJ reported Barker's sentencing date has been set for Oct. 18. He faces up to 10 years in prison as well as a period of supervised release.